The Lion King/Main article
The Lion King is a 1994 animated movie produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation. Released by Walt Disney Pictures, it is the 32nd film in the Disney canon of theatrical animated features, and the highest-grossing traditionally animated feature film in the United States. The film focuses on a young lion in Africa named Simba, who learns of his place in the great "Circle of Life" while struggling through various obstacles to become the rightful king of the Pridelands. The story, which was influenced by the Bible stories of Joseph and Moses and the William Shakespeare play Hamlet, takes place in a kingdom of anthropomorphic animals in Africa. The film was the highest grossing animated film of all time until the release of Finding Nemo (a Disney/Pixar computer-animated film). The Lion King still holds the record as the highest grossing traditionally film in history and belongs to an era known as the Disney Renaissance. The Lion King is the highest grossing 2D animated film of all time in the United States, and received positive reviews from critics, who praised the film for its music and story. During its release in 1994, the film grossed more than $783 million worldwide, becoming the most successful film released that year, and it is currently the twenty-sixth highest-grossing feature film of all time.. A musical film, The Lion King garnered two Academy Awards for its achievement in music and the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy. Songs were written by composer Elton John and lyricist Tim Rice, with an original score by Hans Zimmer. Disney later produced two related movies: a sequel, The Lion King II: Simba's Pride; and a part prequel-part parallel, The Lion King 1½. A Broadway adaptation of the show opened in 1997 and won six Tony Awards including one for Best Musical. Plot The story of The Lion King takes place in the fictional Pridelands of Africa, where a lion rules over the other animals as king. At the beginning of the film, Rafiki, a mandrill shaman, presents Simba, the newborn cub of King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi, to a massive gathering of animals at Pride Rock. Meanwhile, Mufasa's younger brother, Scar, realizes that he is no longer the heir to the throne and plots to kill Simba and Mufasa. thumb|350px|left|The Lion King Trailer Scar plants curiosity in Simba about the Elephant Graveyard, a place beyond the borders of the Pridelands where Mufasa has forbidden Simba to go. Simba takes his best friend, Nala, to the Elephant Graveyard, where the cubs are chased by Shenzi, Banzai and Ed, Scar's hyena minions, only to be rescued by Mufasa. Scar becomes very angry as he intended for the hyenas to kill the cubs. Plotting further, Scar gathers more hyenas and buys their loyalty by claiming that if he were king they would never be without food. Later, Scar lures Simba into a gorge for a "surprise from his father," then signals the hyenas to engineer a wildebeest stampede down into the gorge where Simba is. Alerted by an insincerely dramatic Scar, Mufasa races to rescue his son from the stampede, and after saving Simba, Mufasa is killed by Scar, who thwarts his attempted climb to safety over an edge of a cliff. Scar convinces Simba that that he was responsible for his own father's death, and recommends that he runs away from The Pridelands, never to return. To compound this, Scar sends the hyenas once again to kill Simba, but as Simba escape through a thorny embankment, the hyenas break off pursuit and let him g et away, expecting him to perish in the desert, and hurling threats that they'll kill him if he ver returns. Informed that both Mufasa and Simba were killed, the pride regretfully allows Scar to assume the throne as he is the closest of kin. Simba collapses in a distant desert, where he is found by Timon, a meerkat, and Pumbaa, a warthog, who adopt and raise Simba under their carefree "Hakuna Matata" lifestyle. When Simba is grown, he is discovered by his childhood friend Nala, who relays that Scar's tyrannical reign has devastated The Pridelands by allowing the hyenas to hunt recklessly, a problem further compounded by a severe drought. She demands that Simba return and challenge Scar, but Simba refuses, still guilty about supposedly causing his father's death. However, after some advice from Rafiki and the ghost of his father, Simba returns home along with Timon, Pumbaa and Nala to help him fight his uncle Scar and the Hyenas. Once back at Pride Rock, Simba confronts his uncle and the truth about Mufasa's death is revealed by an overly confident Scar. While the lionesses, Timon, and Pumbaa battle the hyenas, Simba fights Scar solo. In the midst of their fight, Scar tries to surreptitiously blame everything on the hyenas to save his own skins, but they overhear his verbal confrontation with Simba. Simba eventually triumphs over his uncle by throwing him over a low cliff, where he is surrounded by the now resentful hyenas. The hyenas surround their traitorous fallen leader and kill him by devouring him alive. With Simba and Nala as the new king and queen, the Pridelands soon recover, and all the animals return. The movie concludes with Rafiki lifting Simba and Nala's newborn cub high into the air, thus continuing the Circle of Life. Production Story development The production of The Lion King, originally titled King of the Jungle, took place at Walt Disney Feature Animation in Glendale, California, and at the Feature Animation satellite studio at the Disney-MGM Studios in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The original treatment, inspired by Hamlet, was written by Thomas Disch (author of The Brave Little Toaster), as "King of the Kalahari" in late 1988. Since his treatment was written as work-for-hire, Disch didn't received credit or royalties. Roger Allers joined the project as its initial director in October 1991. After six months of story development work, Allers was joined by a co-director, Rob Minkoff. Minkoff joined Allers, and Beauty and the Beast producer and directors Don Hahn, and Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale in two days' worth of meetings to retool the story, revising the lead character of Simba and rewriting the second half of the film. During the summer of 1992, the production team included screenwriter Irene Mecchi, along with another screenwriter, Jonathan Roberts, joining a few months later. Mecchi and Roberts took charge of the story revision process, fixing unresolved emotional issues in the script and adding comic business for Pumbaa, Timon, and the hyenas. Beauty and the Beast screenwriter Linda Woolverton joined on as well to revise Roberts and Meechi's script for The Lion King. Animation Thirteen supervising animators, both in California and Florida, were responsible for establishing the personalities and setting the tone for the film's main characters. The animation leads for the main characters included Mark Henn on young Simba, Ruben A. Aquino on adult Simba, Andreas Deja on Scar, Aaron Blaise on young Nala, Anthony DeRosa on adult Nala, and Tony Fucile on Mufasa. Nearly 20 minutes of the film, including the "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" sequence,Allers, Roger; Hahn, Don, and Minkoff, Rob (1995). Laserdisc/DVD audio commentary for The Lion King. Walt Disney Home Entertainment were animated at the Disney-MGM Studios facility. Ultimately, more than 600 artists, animators and technicians contributed to The Lion King over the course of its production schedule. The character animators studied real-life animals for animation reference, as was done for the 1942 Disney film Bambi. Jim Fowler, a renowned wildlife expert, visited the studios on several occasions with an assortment of lions and other jungle inhabitants to discuss behavior and help the animators give their drawings an authentic feel. During pre-production in 1991, several of the lead crew members, including the directors, producer, story supervisor Brenda Chapman, and production designer Chris Sanders, took a trip to Hell's Gate National Park in Kenya, in order to study and gain an appreciation of the environment for the film. The Pride Lands are modeled on the national park. The use of computers helped the filmmakers present their vision in new ways. The most notable use of computer animation is in the "wildebeest stampede" sequence. Several distinct wildebeest characters were created in a 3D computer program, multiplied into hundreds, cel shaded to look like drawn animation, and given randomized paths down a mountainside to simulate the real, unpredictable movement of a herd. Five specially trained animators and technicians spent more than two years creating the two-and-a-half minute stampede sequence. During production of The Lion King, most of the Disney Feature Animation staff and studio head Jeffrey Katzenberg felt The Lion King was a less important project than Pocahontas, which was in production at the studio at the same time. Most of the staff preferred to work on Pocahontas, believing it would be the more prestigious and successful of the two. The enthusiastic audience reception to an early Lion King film trailer, which consisted solely of the opening sequence with the song "Circle of Life", suggested that the film would be very successful. Though both films were commercial successes, The Lion King received more critical acclaim and earned box office grosses than Pocahontas did when released a year after Lion King. *Conceptual Ideas can be found here. Characters *'Simba' (voiced by Matthew Broderick as an adult and by Jonathan Taylor Thomas as a cub), the main protagonist of the film, is the son of Mufasa and Sarabi and mate of Nala. After defeating his uncle Scar, he becomes the new King. *'Scar' (voiced by Jeremy Irons), the main antagonist, is Mufasa's scheming brother and Simba's jealous uncle who desires the throne. He, with the help of the hyenas, kills his brother in the wildebeest stampede. Later after being overthrown by Simba, he gets eaten alive by the hyenas after they overhear him blame them for his plot. *'Mufasa' (voiced by James Earl Jones) is the King of the Pride Lands at the beginning of the film, Sarabi's mate, Simba's father, and Scar's brother. He is killed by Scar after being thrown off a cliff and getting trampled in the wildebeest stampede after successfully rescuing Simba. Later, he reappears as a ghost and still lives inside Simba. *'Nala' (voiced by Moira Kelly as an adult and by Niketa Calame as a cub), the deuteragonist of the film, is Simba's childhood friend as a cub and his mate as an adult. She becomes queen of the Pride Lands when Simba becomes king. *'Timon and Pumbaa' (voiced by Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella respectively), the tritagonists of the film, are the comical meerkat and warthog duo who influence Simba to live under the philosophy of "Hakuna Matata". They become Simba's new friends after rescuing him in the desert during his self-imposed exile from the Pride Lands. *'Rafiki' (voiced by [[wikipedia:Robert Guillaume|'Robert Guillaume']]) is a wise, elderly mandrill who is responsible for presenting the newborn prince of the lions at Pride Rock for all to see. *'Zazu' (voiced by Rowan Atkinson) is a hornbill who serves as Mufasa's majordomo. *'Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed' (voiced by Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin, and Jim Cummings respectively) are a trio of hyenas who are Scar's henchmen. They serve as the secondary antagonists of the film. *'Sarabi' (voiced by Madge Sinclair) is the Queen of the Pride Lands, Mufasa's mate, Simba's mother and the lead huntress of the lionesses. *'Sarafina' (voiced by Zoe Leader) is another one of the lionesses of Pride Rock and Nala's mother who briefly appears in the film. Her name is given only in the end credits of the film. She has one speaking line and appears twice. Music Elton John and Tim Rice wrote five original songs for this film, with Elton John performing "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" during the end credits in The Lion King. The film's score was composed by Hans Zimmer and supplemented with traditional African music and choir elements arranged by Lebo M. Songs These are the musical numbers of the film, listed in order of appearance. *'"Circle of Life"', is sung by an off-screen by Carmen Twillie, with African vocals by Lebo M and his African choir. This song is played during the ceremony where a newborn prince named Simba is presented to the animals of the Pridelands. The song is reprised at the end of the film. *'"I Just Can't Wait to be King"' is sung by young Simba, young Nala and Zazu. Simba uses this musical number in the film to distract Zazu so that he and Nala can sneak off to the Elephant Graveyard, while expressing his wish to be king as soon as possible. *'"Be Prepared"' is sung by Scar and Shenzi, Banzai and Ed. In this song, Scar reveals to his hyena minions his plot to get rid Mufasa and Simba, and his plans for when he becomes king. *'"Hakuna Matata"' is sung by Timon, Pumbaa and Simba (young and adult). Timon and Pumbaa use this song as a warm welcome to Simba as he arrives at their jungle home, and to symbolize their "no worries" lifestyle. Simba grows into a young adult by the end of the song. *'"Can You Feel the Love Tonight"' is a love song sung mainly by an off-screen Kristle Edwards, with Timon, Pumbaa, adult Simba and adult Nala. This musical sequence shows Timon and Pumbaa's frustration at Simba falling in love, and the development of Simba and Nala's romantic relationship. The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song during the 67th Academy Awards. Additionally, a song which was not present in the original theatrical film, was later added to the IMAX theater and Platinum Edition releases: *'"The Morning Report"', a song originally not in the film (it was created for the live musical version), was added with an accompanying animated sequence in the 2003 Platinum Edition home video release. Sung by Zazu, Mufasa and young Simba, the song is an extension of the scene in the original 1994 film where Zazu delivers a morning report to Mufasa, and later gets pounced on by Simba. Other songs The following songs that are sung in the movie but are not included on the soundtrack : Sung by Zazu during his captivity: * "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" - A spirtual * "It's a Small World" - Written by the Richard and Robert Sherman * "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts" - Written by Fred Heatherton Sung by Timon and Pumbaa: * "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" - Written by Solomon Linda, Hugo Peretti Luigi Creatore, George David Weiss, and Albert Stanton * "Hawaiian War Chant (Tahuwa-Huwai)" - Melody originally written by Prince Leleiohoku II Soundtrack and other albums The film's original motion picture soundtrack was released on July 13, 1994. On February 28, 1995, Disney released an album entitled Rhythm of the Pride Lands, a sequel to the original soundtrack which featured songs and performances inspired by, but not featured in, the film. Most of the tracks were composed by African composer Lebo M and focused primarily on the African influences of the film's original music, with most songs being sung either partially or entirely in various African languages. Several songs featured in the album would later have incarnations in other The Lion King-oriented projects, such as the stage musical and the direct-to-video sequels. Some examples being "Lea Halalela" used as the song for "Shadowland" in the Broadway musical; and a reincarnation of "Warthog Rhapsody", called "That's All I Need", in The Lion King 1½. Rhythm of the Pride Lands was initially printed in a very limited quantity. However, it was re-released in 2003 and included in some international versions of the film's special edition soundtrack with an additional track, "The Morning Report". Release Box office performance The Lion King became the highest grossing motion picture of 1994 worldwide, and the second highest in the USA (behind Forrest Gump). The film initially made $312,855,561 domestically, including a short return to theaters in November 1994, and adding in its 2002 IMAX rerelease the domestic total is $328,541,776. The Lion King held the record for the most successful animated feature film until 2003 when it was surpassed by the computer animated Finding Nemo, but it remains the highest grossing hand-drawn animated feature film. death During the first week of its 3D release, The Lion King grossed an estimated $29.3 million beating all the new releases, which was far beyond its expected $15 million take. It also became the first film reach the #1 spot at the box-office during a re-release since Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi back in March 1997. Durig the second weekend, the film managed to remain #1 at the box office with a 27% decline to $21.9 million.Weekend Report: 'Lion' Remains 'King,' 'Moneyball,' 'Dolphin Tale' Go Extra Innings Due to the unpredented success, Disney plans to leave it in theaters longer than the two-week run the studio initially planned, said Dave Hollis, Disney's head of distribution, thouh it is has not yet decided how long or how widely the film would play theatrically after the Blu-ray release after October 2011. Critical reviews The Lion King garnered critical acclaim and at Rotten Tomatoes, based on 75 reviews collected, the film has an overall approval rating of 88%, with a weighted average score of 8/10. Among Rotten Tomatoes's Cream of the Crop, which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television and radio programs, the film holds an overall approval rating of 100 percent. By comparison, Metacritic, which assigns a Standard score 0-100 rating to reviews from mainstream critics, calculated an average score of 84 from the 13 reviews it collected. Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert called the film "a superbly drawn animated feature" and, in his print review wrote, "The saga of Simba, which in its deeply buried origins owes something to Greek tragedy and certainly to Hamlet, is a learning experience as well as an entertainment." However, on the television program At the Movies the film was praised but received a mixed reaction when compared to previous Disney films. Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert both gave the film a "Thumbs Up" but Siskel said that it was not as good as earlier films such as Beauty and the Beast and was "a good film, not a great one". Hal Hinson of The Washington Post called it "an impressive, almost daunting achievement" and felt that the film was "spectacular in a manner that has nearly become commonplace with Disney's feature-length animations", but was less enthusiastic toward the end of his review saying, "Shakespearean in tone, epic in scope, it seems more appropriate for grown-ups than for kids. If truth be told, even for adults it is downright strange." Owen Gleiberman, film critic for Entertainment Weekly, praised the film and wrote that it "has the resonance to stand not just as a terrific cartoon but as an emotionally pungent movie". Rolling Stone]] film critic Peter Travers praised the film and felt that it was "a hugely entertaining blend of music, fun and eye-popping thrills, though it doesn't lack for heart". The staff of TV Guide wrote that "The film has some of Disney's most spectacular animation yet—particularly in the wildebeest stampede—and strong vocal performances, especially by skilled Broadway comedian Nathan Lane. However, it suffers from a curiously undeveloped story line." James Berardinelli, film critic for ReelViews, praised the film saying, "With each new animated release, Disney seems to be expanding its already-broad horizons a little more. The Lion King is the most mature (in more than one sense) of these films, and there clearly has been a conscious effort to please adults as much as children. Happily, for those of us who generally stay far away from 'cartoons', they have succeeded." In June 2008, the American Film Institute revealed its "10 Top 10"—the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. The Lion King was acknowledged as the fourth best film in the animation genre. Awards and nominations The Lion King received many award nominations, including the Academy Award for Best Original Score (by Hans Zimmer) and the Golden Globe award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, both of which it won. Most notably, the song "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" by Elton John and Tim Rice won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, the Golden Globe for Best Original Song, the BMI Film Music Award, and the Grammy Award for Best Vocal Performance Male. The awards were as follows: * Academy Awards ** Best Original Score (Won) ** Best Original Song for "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" (Won) ** Best Original Song for "Circle of Life" (Nominated) ** Best Original Song for "Hakuna Matata" (Nominated) * Golden Globe Awards ** Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy (Won) ** Best Original Score (Won) ** Best Original Song for "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" (Won) ** Best Original Song for "Circle of Life" (Nominated) * Annie Awards ** Best Animated Feature (Won) ** Best Achievement for Voice Acting to Jeremy Irons for voicing Scar (Won) ** Best Individual Achievement for Story Contribution in the Field of Animation (Won) ** Best Individual Achievement for Artistic Excellence in the Field of Animation (Nominated, lost to The Nightmare Before Christmas.) * Saturn Awards ** Best Fantasy Film (Nominated, lost to Forrest Gump.) ** Best Performance by a Younger Actor to Jonathan Taylor Thomas for voicing young Simba (Nominated, lost to Kirsten Dunst for Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles.) ** Best DVD Classic Film Release in 2004 (Nominated, lost to The Adventures of Robin Hood.) * British Academy Film Awards ** BAFTA Award for Best Sound (Nominated, lost to Speed.) ** Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music (Nominated, lost to Backbeat.) * BMI Film & TV Awards ** BMI Film Music Award for "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" (Won) ** Most Performed Song from a Film "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" (Won) * Grammy Award ** Best Vocal Performance Male to Elton John for "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" (Won) ** Grammy Award for Song of the Year|Song of the Year for "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" (Nominated, lost to "Streets of Philadelphia" from Philadelphia.) ** Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media for "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" (Nominated, lost to "Streets of Philadelphia" from Philadelphia.) ** Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media for "Circle of Life" (Nominated, lost to "Streets of Philadelphia" from Philadelphia.) ** Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for Television (Nominated, lost to Schindler's List.) * 1995 MTV Movie Awards ** Best Villain for Jeremy Irons (Nominated, lost to Dennis Hopper for Speed.) ** Best Song From A Movie for "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" (Nominated, lost to "Big Empty" from The Crow.) * Kids' Choice Awards ** Favorite Movie (Won) 1995 release The Lion King was first released on VHS and laserdisc in the United States on March 3, 1995, under Disney's "Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection" video series. In addition, Deluxe Editions of both formats were released. The VHS Deluxe Edition included the film, an exclusive lithograph of Rafiki and Simba (in some editions), a commemorative "Circle of Life" epigraph, six concept art lithographs, another tape with the half-hour TV show The Making of The Lion King, and a certificate of authenticity. The CAV laserdisc Deluxe Edition also contained the film, six concept art lithographs and The Making of The Lion King, and added storyboards, character design artwork, concept art, rough animation, and a directors' commentary that the VHS edition did not have, on a total of four double sided disks. The VHS tape quickly became one of the best-selling videotapes of all time: 4.5 million tapes were sold on the first day and ultimately sales totaled more than 30 million before these home video versions went into moratorium in 1997. 2003 Platinum Edition On October 7, 2003, the film was rereleased on VHS and released on DVD for the first time, titled The Lion King: Platinum Edition, as part of Disney's Platinum Edition line of animated classic DVDs. The DVD release featured two versions of the film on the first disc, a remastered version created for the 2002 IMAX release and an edited version of the IMAX release purporting to be the original 1994 theatrical version. A second disc, with bonus features, was also included in the DVD release. The film's soundtrack was provided both in its original Dolby 5.1 track and in a new Disney Enhanced Home Theater Mix, making this one of the first Disney DVDs so equipped. By means of seamless branching, the film could be viewed either with or without a newly-created scene — a short conversation in the film replaced with a complete song ("The Morning Report"). A Special Collector's Gift Set was also released, containing the DVD set, five exclusive lithographed character portraits (new sketches created and signed by the original character animators), and an introductory book entitled The Journey. The Platinum Edition of The Lion King was criticized by fans for its false advertising: producer Don Hahn had earlier stated that the film would be in its original 1994 theatrical version, but it was confirmed after release that it was the "digitally enhanced" IMAX version instead, which is slightly different from the original theatrical cut. One of the most noticeable differences is the re-drawn crocodiles in the "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" sequence. Despite this criticism, more than two million copies of the Platinum Edition DVD and VHS units were sold on the first day of release. A DVD boxed set of the three The Lion King films (in two-disc Special Edition formats) was released on December 6, 2004. In January 2005, the film, along with the sequels, went back into moratorium, but new and used copies still sell very well. 2011 Diamond edition The Walt Disney Company announced The Lion King is being re-released in theaters in 3D on September 16, 2011 as said by the official Disney site.http://disneydvd.disney.go.com/the-lion-king-diamond-edition.html Also, Disney announced that the Diamond Edition release of The Lion King will be released on October 4, 2011. The 4-disc combo pack includes a Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray 2D, DVD, and "Digital Copy" of The Lion King. In accordance with the release of the film, a soundtrack will be released, titled Best of The Lion King. Controversies Story origin The Lion King was said to be the first Disney animated feature to be an original story, rather than being based on an already-existing story. The filmmakers have said that the story of The Lion King was inspired by the Joseph and Moses stories from the Bible and William Shakespeare's Hamlet. Certain elements of the film, however, bear a resemblance to a famous 1960s Japanese anime television show, Kimba the White Lion. One similarity is the protagonists' names: Kimba and Simba, although the word "simba" means "lion" in Swahili.As shown in a search for either term at Online Swahili - English Dictionary. Many characters in Kimba have an analogue in The Lion King and various individual scenes are nearly identical in composition and camera angle. Matthew Broderick, the voice of Simba, believed initially that he was in fact working on a remake of Kimba, since he was familiar with the Japanese original.Schweizer, Peter and Rochelle Schweizer. Disney: The Mouse Betrayed: Greed, corruption, and children at risk, Regnery, Washington, D.C., 1998. Chapter 11 "The Lyin' King," pp. 167-168. Early production artwork on the film's Platinum Edition DVD even includes a white lion. Disney's official stance is that the similarities are all coincidental. Yoshihiro Shimizu, of Tezuka Productions, which created Kimba the White Lion, has refuted rumours that the studio was paid hush money by Disney but explains that they rejected urges from within the industry to sue because, 'we're a small, weak company. It wouldn't be worth it anyway... Disney's lawyers are among the top twenty in the world!'Kelts, Roland, Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the US. Reprint edn (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008). p.45 Christopher Vogler, in his book The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, described Disney's request that he suggest how to improve the plot of The Lion King by incorporating ideas from Hamlet. It has also been noted that the plot bears some resemblance to the West African Epic of Sundiata. Alleged subliminal messaging In one scene of the film's original VHS and LaserDisc releases, it appears as if the word "SEX" might have been embedded into the flowers and grass leaves flying in the sky when Simba flops down in the grass, which conservative activist Donald Wildmon asserted was a subliminal message intended to promote sexual promiscuity. The film's animators, however, have stated that the letters spell "SFX" (a common abbreviation of "special effects"), and was intended as an innocent "signature" created by the effects animation team. Due to the controversy it had caused, the scene was edited for the film's 2003 DVD and VHS releases, and the flowers and grass leaves no longer formed any letters. "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" The use of the song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" in a scene with Timon and Pumbaa has led to disputes between Disney and the family of South African Solomon Linda, who composed the song (originally titled "Mbube") in 1939. In July 2004, the family filed suit, seeking $1.6 million in royalties from Disney. In February 2006, Linda's heirs reached a legal settlement with Abilene Music, who held the worldwide rights and had licensed the song to Disney for an undisclosed amount of money. Hamas propaganda In August 2007, the Hamas organization produced an animated propaganda film that resembled the style of ''The Lion King. The program was aired via their television station, Al-Aqsa TV. Hamas was portrayed as a lion that chased and killed rats that bore the likenesses of members of the secular Fatah organization in Gaza. The program was briefly aired but was pulled off the air for revision. Portrayal of hyenas A number of Disney studios artists spent two days observing and sketching captive Spotted Hyenas maintained at the Field Station for Behavioural Research in the hills above the University of California's Berkeley campus. Dr. Laurence Frank, and other scientists who had organised the visit, expressed a strong request that the portrayal of the hyenas featured in ''The Lion King be positive. The artists responded that they would do their best to make the hyenas appear more comical than evil.[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2267/is_n3_v62/ai_17909878/?tag=content;col1 The spotted hyena from Aristotle to the Lion King: reputation is everything - In the Company of Animals, Social Research, Fall, 1995 by Stephen E. Glickman] The resulting portrayal did not impress most hyena biologists: one hyena researcher sued Disney studios for defamation of characterThe good,the bad and the hyena'' by James Mcpherson, and in conclusion to a spotted hyena fact sheet written for African Geographic in May 2006, Dr. Frank included boycotting The Lion King as a way of helping preserve hyenas in the wild.[http://www.lionconservation.org/African%20Geographic%20Hyena%20article.pdf Girl Power, Laurence D. Frank, ''African Geographic] Hyena researcher Stephen Glickman wrote: "In both Hemingway and The Lion King there is an emphasis on greed, gluttony, and stupidity that is ultimately designed to be comical. This reaches its "pinnacle" when a hyena Ed feeds on its own body, as described in The Green Hills of Africa and in the American children's computer game based on the movie." Condemnation was also launched by film critics and cultural analysts, some of whom saw the portrayals of the hyenas as underlying a low class and that their upholding of cultural stereotypes by sporting African American (Shenzi) and Latin American (Banzai) accents, as opposed to the American and British accents of the main characters, was racist.Film genre 2000: new critical essays published by The SUNY series, cultural studies in cinema/videoThe Death of Art'', by Bhesham R. Sharma, published by the University Press of America, 2006''The Mouse That Roared: Disney and the End of Innocence, Culture and Education'', Henry A. Giroux, Rowman & Littlefield, 2001 Film analyst Matt Roth described the film as a "the spadework for the ugly principles it Disney feels it must implant in each new generation."[http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC40folder/LionKing.html The Lion King: A short history of Disney-fascism by Matt Roth from Jump Cut, no. 40, March 1996, pp. 15-20] Sequels and spin-offs The success of the film led to several spin-offs, its first being a 70mm film released in 1995 entitled Circle of Life: An Environmental Fable. It promoted environmental friendliness and was shown in the Harvest Theater at Epcot in Walt Disney World. Also, debuting in 1995, a spin-off television series called The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa which focused on the titular meerkat and warthog duo in a more modern, human world opposed to the film's. In addition, a direct-to-video sequel called The Lion King II: Simba's Pride was released in 1998, focusing on Simba's daughter, Kiara. Finally, a direct-to-video part-prequel-part-parallel film, The Lion King 1½ (also known as The Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata in other countries), was released in 2004, showing the timeline of The Lion King from the perspective of Timon and Pumbaa. Simba, Mufasa, Nala, Mufasa, Scar, Timon, and Pumbaa were featured as guests in Disney's House of Mouse, and Banzai, Shenzi and Ed were part of the Disney villains in Mickey's House of Villains. Simba, Timon, Pumbaa, Rafiki and Nala were featured in Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse. Video games Two video games based on the film have been released. The first, entitled, The Lion King (video game), was published in 1994 by Virgin Group and was released on NES, SNES, Game Boy, Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, Game Gear, Personal computer and Amiga. The second, entitled The Lion King: Simba's Mighty Adventure, was published in 2000 by Activision and was released on PlayStation and Game Boy Color. In 1996, Disney Interactive and 7th Level released Timon & Pumbaa's Jungle Games for the PC. It was later seen on the SNES. Games include one where Pumbaa uses his gas to destroy fruits and bugs (and even a kitchen sink) that fall out of trees, a variation on a pinball game, a game where you use a peashooter to hit enemy creatures in the jungle, a game where Timon has to jump onto hippos over a river to deliver bugs to Pumbaa, and a variation on Tetris. A third game was published in 2004 simply called The Lion King for Game Boy Advance in Europe and Asia, but was in fact a game based on the direct-to-video prequel/midquel The Lion King 1½ with Timon and Pumbaa as the playable characters. Part of the main plot of The Lion King is retold in the 2005 Square Enix PlayStation 2 game Kingdom Hearts II. The characters of the film appear in "Pride Land", one of the many Disney "worlds" in the game. The plot is altered and new dialogue was recorded to accommodate the presence of the three main protagonists (Sora, Donald Duck and Goofy). King Simba also appears as a Summon and Summon Card in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, respectively. Trivia * The story is loosely inspired by the Bible stories of Joseph and Moses as well as William Shakespeare's theatrical play, Hamlet. * A wildlife expert brought in a lion, baboon and some vultures to the film studios so the animators can study certain behaviours. For example in the movie Rafiki carries a walking stick or staff, so the animators had the baboon walk around with a stick so they can sketch him in different positions. * The Lion King was the highest grossing animated film of all time until the release of Disney and Pixar's Finding Nemo in 2003. However, the film remains the highest grossing traditionally animated film in history, and the sixth highest grossing animated film. * The Lion King is frequently mentioned in Tyler Perry's plays.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-G9VAdBh20&feature=related Other * A list of the mistakes and continuity errors in this movie can be found here. References Category:Media Category:Movies Category:The Lion King